J came to our Clinic a couple of months ago, first time on meeting it was clear this was a lady who was so stressed, because she was in great pain, and felt that she had never been listened too about her injury, she needed help so Steve was determined to get to the root of the problem and sort it out.
“I started to get a sore hip about 23 years ago, it’s on set coincided with starting to drive. It hurt on and off for about 16 years, it was inconvenient at times, but not too bad. Then just over 7 years ago my whole lower back and hamstrings became very tight and sore pretty much all the time.
There were periods when my Piriformis muscle was so painful I could not stand still for more than 2 minutes.
Sometimes when my whole lower back would lock up so it would take about 5 minutes to bend myself into a chair and to straighten out again when I wanted to get up. The flare up’s were awful, my back used to take about 3 months to calm down.
When it was really bad, I certainly couldn’t do everyday things like bend down to look in a draw or pick something off the floor. The worse thing was I never knew what was going to set it off, I got so paranoid at trying to prevent a flare up I kept diaries to try and second guess what might aggravate it. I took a cushion everywhere with me as hard chairs were a big no no. It was a really miserable existence.
When I explained these limitations to my doctor, rather than being concerned that an otherwise very healthy 38 year old, that until recently used to play rugby and run regularly, was unable to bend over due to extreme muscle tightness and lower back pain, she suggested that I stop trying to bend down! That was it, that was all she had to offer. Oh, that and some drugs to dull the pain.
Eventually I left the job I loved so that I could work part time as I thought sitting at a desk all week might have been part of the problem. It didn’t really make much difference.
Over the years I have seen all manner of back people, chiropractors, physios, osteopaths, sports masseurs, occupational health specialists, you name it, I just wish they were on performance related pay because none of them managed to make much of a difference and I have spent a fortune. It wasn’t just the odd appointment either, I saw one guy regularly at the Spire hospital for over a year.
I think it would be fair to say most of them just wanted to know which bit hurt at the time and they would then work on that area. No one seemed interested in the underlying problem i.e. the cause of my tight leg and back muscles that I knew was causing all the problems.
I asked many times, believe me, I just never got an answer.
Then during the summer holidays this year, after struggling to walk the half mile to the local park with my sons so they could practice a bit of rugby, I decided enough was enough.
At the time it was my Piriformis muscle that was really bad so I Googled ‘Piriformis/Norfolk’ (as not all specialists even believe in Piriformis syndrome, let alone know what to do with it) and Steve’s details were top of the search list. Piriformis Syndrome
Steve agreed to fit me in that night at his home clinic. Rather than doing the usual massage on the area that I was used to from other physios, he put my feet in a bucket of water and then connected me to the mains. To be honest I thought at best he was a bit eccentric and at worst he was going to kill me. I was actually quite disheartened. After reading his web site earlier, I had felt more positive about seeing Steve than I had most of the other specialists I had seen over the years. It was that old cliché of ‘could he be the one?’
I was clinging on for Hope.
After the appointment, I didn’t feel much better and was feeling really down, but the next morning I woke up and I just knew something was different. Not just better, but different. I have been seeing Steve for about two months now and for the first time in 23 years I feel nearly normal and I know he is going to make me pain free. When Steve first started treating me he promised he would make me pain free and although that promised cheered me up no end, I didn’t really believe him. Not deep down.
Steve’s view is that if a back hurts, there is a problem that needs fixing. Find the source of the problem and fix it – for good.
So many so called professionals have told me to expect to have back pain, that everyone has back pain, that it’s normal. To get on with it, to accept it, to live with it, accommodate it.
And the really sad thing is, I was actually starting to listen to them! I gave up a job I loved and was bracing myself for an old age blighted by a back that was surely only going to get worse.
Well now I feel fantastic. I have got a new job – full time again – I feel like I did when I was 20. I feel so ‘normal’ I still can’t believe it. It’s been so long I can hardly remember what normal is.
Every time I bend down to get something out of a cupboard, I notice that I don’t hurt or have to do the task by kneeling on the floor. Every morning when I first get out of bed and don’t have to walk to the bathroom semi bent because I can’t straighten up for a while, I notice it. I think I will be noticing it for a long time.
Steve is amazing. He uses his ‘fizzy’ machine to sort you out. It really works miracles. And it feels fab, bit like a spa session!
